Roger Federer: “I Am Already Famous Enough”

Such are the lofty expectations from Roger Federer, that people take it for granted that he is automatically going to get through the early rounds of the tournament. Federer was asked if he felt the extra pressure on his shoulders, from the weight of the expectations from all over the world. “This is maybe, I felt this way before. But now that I’m always in contention of winning big tournaments, it changes, because once you won the tournament, then you’re such a happy person.”

Roger agrees that getting through the early rounds of any tournament, does not grab much attention. “You know, the people realize actually, you know, what a great job you did. I know also for sometimes the second and third round, it’s not made to become famous. You know, I am already famous enough in tennis”, said Roger Federer. Federer also said that the accumulation of victories over the years has given him that extra edge and confidence against the rest of the players.

“You know, if I would panic a few years ago, I would just start to serve and volley because I would feel like, well, my backhand’s not working, so how does it work that I don’t have to a backhand? Well, I come to net, so I have to hit volleys”, said the Swiss maestro. “So then I would get upset. This also wouldn’t work. So I had to just -it’s got a lot also to do with self-confidence for me, just be able to understand the game itself”.

Federer was an anxious and angry young man in his early days, screaming and breaking racquets. However, he managed to analyse his mistakes and turn things around in spectacular fashion. “Took me a while, but finally, I figured it out, and now I feel very good on the court. I feel very relaxed. Makes me play better tennis”, says Roger. “It was very important for me to realize, that I have to focus more on the game instead of losing energy, throwing the racquets, screaming, and getting angry at mistakes.”

“Between matches and on the court, I feel like I’m not losing too much energy now”, says Federer. “Before maybe there also was more of an insecure feeling I had on the court, which made me become maybe more nervous, not sure of what I’m actually going to do.”

Federer is currently set to feature at the Shanghai Masters 1000, where he might face Del Potro in the semi-finals and Novak Djokovic in the finals.